Oil pumping apparatus



July 24, 1934.' G. c. ENGSTRAND ET AL 1,961,231

OIL BUMPING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 2, 1933 wmvesses v wvl-:mons

fw wm? y l Patented JulyV 244, 1934 UNITED sfitsri-:s'A PATENT-lorries 1,967,231 OIL'TPUMPINQ APPARATUS Gunnar C. Engstrand, New York, N. yY., and Charles` A. G. Armstrong, Roselle, N. J., as-

sigors to Sludge Pumping, Inc., N. Y., a corporation of New York New York,

Application September 2, 1933, Serial No. ,637,931

'4 Claims. (Cl. 103-5) ed construction and l combined with \a swing check valve placed in front of and at some distance from the steam jet pump will not only pump the lviscous material from the bottom of storage tanks where it accumulates, but will also eiiectively handle all kind of vis ous oils, semi-liquids and liquids and deliver th pumped material` over considerable distances and eleva-l tions without reducing -the pumping rate below the one required for practical consideration.

Now therefore our apparatus is, especially adapted for the removal of the residue accumulations which periodically accrue at the' bottom of oil burning vessels, and as our apparatus only includes a small portable steam ejector, readily hooked up to the steam plant of the vessel itself, and some exible hose lines, no special float-z ing equipment is required for its installation and a most inexpensive periodical or occasional sludge removal may be accomplished by our apparatus.

As during our pumping air is also withdrawn from the storage tanks, the highly explosive gases which are generated by the oily residues are effectively removed during the pumping and all danger of explosion averted. v

We have found that air which is sucked into thetransmission line bythe relatively low vacuum that is created by our steam jet pump will cause the material to travel through the suction line inform of awave or short slug which seals the suction line during its travel therethrough. y

We'have discovered that the diameter of the pump intake proper must be considerably smaller than that of the suction hose and also that in order to achieve a practical and positive pumping rate it-is imperative in some manner to trap the sealing slug just in front thereof. As the slug is approximately three to four feet long, we prefer to accomplish the trapping by a conventional swing check valve placed in front of the pump intake and at a distance of approximately two feet therefrom.

. material.

Finally we have found that heating of the pump intake by a steam jacket assists the pump- Y ing as such heating considerably reduces the throat friction in the pump. y

Our invention specifically relates to a certain 69 grouping together of known'elements, and accomplishes that which hitherto was considered impossible to achieve without the use of giant machinery entirely out of proportion with the work accomplished. y 05 A successful and economic pumping performance therefore requires a number of steps to be taken in order to arrive'at a desired result and we therefore claim as invention these steps as constituting a method.

We also claimas invention the grouping together of old elements by means of which arrangement we achieve new and novel results.

Figure 1 shows our preferred apparatus remov- 75 Ying the viscous residue from the interior of a maritime vessel and. discharging the same into a slop barge moored at the side of the vessel.

Figure 2 shows an, enlarged view of our preferred assembly of parts.`

Figures 3 and 4 show the detail construction of our preferred steam jet pump.

In the drawing where like reference characters denote corresponding parts; 1 denotes the ship from the double bottom of which the viscous material 2 is removed and pumped into the slop barge 3 which is shown moored at the ships side.

On the deck of the slop barge 3 the boiler 4 is installed, which furnishes the steam to the steamA jet pump 5 by means of the steam hose 6. 90

The steam jet suction pump 5 is shown with one end connected to the swing check valve 7 by means of the nipple 8, and the other end to the discharge hose 9 by means of the reducer 10. W

A suction hose 11 is attached to the swing check valve '7 and led into the double bottom of the vessel l and the end thereof is shown dipped into the sludge 2 which is to be pumped into the slop barge 3. l

The steam jet pump 5 is of the annular jet 100 design with a central passage for the material and comprises a castiron body provided with enlarged socket ends 13 and 14, and a tapered and cored nozzle piece 15 so as to form a steam jacket 16 having a circularl opening 17 around the hollowed 105 core 18 which allows for the passage of the The steam jacket 16 is provided with the steam inlet 18' to which the steam line 6 is connected, and the valve 12 controls the steam supply from A110 the boiler.- The nozzle piece 15 is provided with a tapered end 19 and the taper thereof is more pronounced than that of the iron body of the jet pump. Now therefore this steam nozzle is an expanding nozzle, the steam being allowed to expand to a considerable degree before it enters into the iron body of the pump.

The operation is as followsz- The discharge hose is swung over the ship side and the steam jet pump is preferably placed on top of the double bottom of the vessel.

The steam operating valve is opened and the suction hose is led into the tank and there dipped into the material to be pumped, care being taken at all-times to so hold the intake end so that atmospheric air is free to enter into the transmission line together with the material.

The material is sucked up by the relatively low vacuum created by the steam jet issuing from the armular jet opening and moves through the suction line in a wave or slug formation and only one slug at a time passes into the system.

Now however, as the area of the intake proper of the pump in our preferred apparatus is less than one-third of the area of the suction hose, the sealing slug will be effectively arrested at the narrow intake of the jet pump just before it comes in contact with the steam jet and is there positively trapped by the swing check Valve, and the steam will therefore strike a solid column of liquid material which passes through the pump.

It is to be noted that we employ a discharge line nearly double in area of the suction line, and due to this arrangement the slug which is intermittently discharged by the pump will have a diameter much smaller than the discharge line and will therefore be effectively suspended in the surrounding steam and a practicallyfrictionless and rapid discharge of the slug-through the line is accomplished.

It is also to be noted that the outside of this liquid column is heated by the steam jacket which surrounds the intake of the pump and said preheating will considerably assist the pumping, inasmuch as it considerably reduces the friction set up between the narrow pump intake and the viscous material. As this friction has to be overcome by the suction of the jet pump and as it is is no suction head at all, it is.most important to. reduce the suction head of our pump to a minimum.

A vacuum gauge placed at the check valve in a. full size commercial apparatus shows a regular vacuum Variation from zero to 10 or 11 inches approximately every 6 seconds and the check valve clicks shut for each period of variation.

Now, therefore, what we accomplish by our method is the intermittent transfer of the material to the intake proper of the pump and the discharge of the material through the pump with a minimum of suction head, as the pump suction is broken in the suction line during the slug .discharge.

The first step of our pumping method is therefore the admitting of air to the suction end and the creating of an intermittent and moderate vacuum to thereby suck the material through the Y suction line in a slug formation.

The second step is the simultaneous arresting and trapping of the slug at the intake end proper of the pump together with the preferred surface heating of the slug. The third step is the ejection of the material through the discharge hose in form of a slug suspended in the steam stream therethrough.

We have operated our apparatus at commercial work over lifts in excess of forty-five feet.

We have invariably found that when air is admitted at the intake end of the system only one slug at a time passes through the transmission hose.

We are not limiting our claims for invention to the apparatus shownas it is obvious that modi- Qi) fication may be made in the adaptation of our device without departing .from the spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim:-

1. The method of pumping viscous material through a transmission line characterized by creating a steam stream through the discharge portion of the line so as to create a moderate vacuum in the intake portion thereof, admitting air and material at the suction end to cause a slug to l0@ travel singly through the suction portion of the line, arresting the slug at the end thereof so as to break the Vacuum therein and discharging this slug suspended in the steam stream through the discharge portion of the transmission line. E

2. The method of pumping viscous material through a transmission line characterized by creating a steam stream through the discharge portion o f the line so as to create a moderate vacuum in the intake portion thereof, admitting lll@ air and material at the suction end to cause a slug to travel singly through the suction portion of the line, arresting the slug at the end thereof so as to break the vacuum therein, trapping said arrested slug and discharging this slug suspended H5 in the steam stream through the discharge portion of the transmission line.

3. The method of pumping viscous material through a transmission line characterized by creating a ,steam stream through the discharge portion of the line so as to create a moderate Vacuum in the intake portion thereof, admitting air and material at the suction end to cause a slug to travel singly through'the suction portion of the line, arresting the slug at the end thereof so as to break the .vacuum therein, heating the surface of said arrested slug and discharging this slug suspended in the steam stream through the discharge portion of the transmission line.

4. The method of pumping viscous material through a transmission line characterized by creating a steam stream through the discharge portion of the line so as to create a moderate vacuum in the intake portion thereof, admitting air and material at the suction end to cause a slug to 35 travel singly through the suction portion of the` line, arresting the slug at the end thereof so as to break the vacuum therein, trapping said arrested' slug, heating the surface thereof and discharging this slug suspended in the steam stream through the discharge portion of the transmission line. 

